Jack ran through the forest. He had to hurry because it wouldn’t be long before night fell. It’d taken him much longer to clear a dungeon than he’d expected, and now it was already dark in the forest. In just a few minutes, the blind mutants would begin to materialize all around him. He knew he wouldn’t be able to get home before it happened, but maybe he at least would be able to outrun them.

He spotted a figure step out from behind a tree trunk up ahead. At first, he thought it was a blind mutant, but he immediately realized he was wrong. It was a male person clad in light armor. He pointed what looked like a revolver at Jack, causing him to come to an abrupt halt. He hadn’t been prepared to meet another person so suddenly. For a moment, he thought the stranger was about to shoot at him, but he lowered his handgun instead.

“Geez, man, I thought you were a monster,” the person said, grinning widely. “I’m Matt.”

Jack didn’t have time for that. “Stay away from me.”

“What?”

Giving the stranger named Matt a wide berth, Jack continued to run. He glanced over his shoulder to make sure Matt wasn’t going to shoot him in the back. He wasn’t, but Jack spotted the familiar shapes of blind mutants between the trees behind him.

“Dammit,” Jack muttered under his breath. The mutants had begun to pop up sooner than he’d expected.

“What the fuck are those things?” Matt yelled behind him, noticing the mutants too. “I’ve never seen such monsters.”

A second later, Jack heard the muffled sounds of gunshots. This time, he didn’t look back, focusing on running instead. After a few more shots, he heard Matt yell, “There are so many of them!”

There was no more gunfire, but Jack heard the sound of running feet behind him. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Matt catching up with him. He was surprisingly fast and got abreast of him in mere seconds.

“What are those things?” He shouted to Jack as he ran alongside him. “They are blind, but their hearing is excellent.”

“Leave me alone!”

“What?”

“Those things are after me, not you,” Jack said panting heavily from the strenuous run. “If you go your separate way, they won’t follow you.”

The stranger seemed to think about it for a moment.

“Why are they after you anyway?”

“No time to explain. Just go. It’s best for both of us if we part ways.”

But Matt wouldn’t listen. As he ran alongside Jack, he pointed his strange-looking handgun back and opened fire at the mutants following them.

Jack was quickly losing patience with him.

“For fuck’s sake! Didn’t you hear what I just said? Leave me alone! They won’t come after you if you break away from me.”

“I'm not leaving you alone, bud,” Matt said. “You definitely could use my help.”

Jack already could see the great tree, in which his house was built. Only he wasn’t willing to let the complete stranger into his home. His treehouse was huge, and he normally wouldn’t mind sharing it with somebody, but he needed to get to know them first. He wasn’t eager to allow a potentially bad person to enter his home. As for this guy, even though Jack had known him just for a couple of minutes, he already could tell that there was something off about it.

However, Matt wouldn’t leave him alone, giving Jack no choice but to show him his treehouse. Aside from killing him, he didn’t know what else he could do to keep his place secret, but killing every person he just met probably wasn’t such a good idea. Maybe his initial impression of Matt was wrong, and that guy was alright.

Jack finally reached the great tree. He found the spot where the invisible magic rune was located and stepped on it. Matt stood next to him, a bewildered look on his face.

“Why’d you stop running?” He asked.

Jack didn’t bother to reply. The blind mutants were converging on them from every direction. Matt wasn’t firing at them anymore, probably because he’d finally realized there was no way he could kill them all. With a thought, Jack activated the rune, and it immediately kicked in. The lines of the rune emitted a bluish glow, and Jack began to float up the gravity tunnel with Matt drifting up alongside him.

“What the fuck is happening?” he screamed in panic, grabbing Jack by the shoulder. “What the fuck are you doing to me, asshole?!”

Jack looked down. The blind mutants swarmed the great tree from every direction, but he and Matt were already too high in the air. Some of them stepped on the glowing rune, but the gravity tunnel didn’t pull them up, because unlike Matt, they hadn’t been anywhere near the rune when Jack activated it with a thought. To use the gravity tunnel, they needed to give it a specific mental command, but they weren’t capable of that.

“Answer me, dammit,” Matt snarled at Jack as he pointed his handgun at his face. “Or I’ll fucking kill you.”

Jack had had enough of him. Slapping the handgun aside, he punched Matt in the solar plexus as hard as he could. The guy dropped to his knees as his mouth formed an O in a vain attempt to draw in a breath. The movement finally stopped, and Jack stepped from the gravity tunnel onto the balcony of his treehouse.

As he did so, he glanced back at Matt. If the stranger tried to point his handgun at him one more time, he would instantly fling a fireball at him. Matt finally recovered. As he slowly got to his feet, his face twisted in rage.

“You shouldn’t have hit me. I’m gonna fucking kill—”

He went silent as he for the first time saw the enormous house that was built around the trunk of the great tree. Now that they were inside the illusion spell, Matt could see the treehouse, and by the look on his face, he was impressed by what he was seeing.

“Wow,” he muttered. “That’s awesome.”

“So are you going to kill me or not?” Jack asked in a cold voice.

“What? Oh, that,” he muttered as he looked at the handgun in his hand. “No, of course not. I was freaking out because I didn’t understand what was happening. But now I get it. Your treehouse is invisible if you look at it from outside, right? That’s smart. That’s very smart. And you use some kind of gravity magic to pull you up here. That’s smart too.”

He slid his handgun into the holster on his right hip and stepped onto the balcony of the treehouse. He walked to the railing and looked down at the mutants shuffling aimlessly around the great tree.

“They can’t get up here, huh?”

“No, they can’t.”

Even though Matt had holstered his weapon, Jack was still watching him carefully. He still didn’t like him much. There was definitely something off about him. The more time Jack spent in his company, the more sure of that he became. For the next several minutes, Matt walked around his treehouse, wondering at everything he saw. He was impressed by the treehouse. He didn’t ask Jack any questions about it, though.

Finally, they returned to the balcony. Matt slid his revolver-like handgun out of its holster for some reason.

“I found this beauty in a dungeon where I was doing some quest,” he said. “I’ve been using this precious gun since then. I don’t need any other weapons anymore.”

Matt was looking at the revolver in his hand with such love that Jack once again wondered if he had a few loose marbles or something. He didn’t ask Jack any questions about him and didn’t tell him anything about himself or how he’d been surviving in this world either. Instead, he began to talk about his handgun right off the bat. He couldn’t even keep it in its holster for a minute. His obsession with his handgun wasn’t normal, to say the least.

“My precious gun grows stronger when I kill monsters with it,” Matt kept babbling, not even looking at Jack. “I’ve leveled it up so many times, it became legendary.”

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He tore his gaze off his weapon and held it out to Jack. “See for yourself if you don’t believe me.”

“I believe you,” Jack replied, not taking the revolver.

“Check it out,” Matt said in a suddenly harsh voice, squinting his eyes at him. “I know you want to. Anybody would.”

That guy was definitely not right in the head. Jack hesitated, not sure of what he should do. How do you deal with a crazy person?

“Take it,” Matt almost yelled, his face twisting in anger.

Jack realized it wouldn’t be a good idea to agitate Matt even more, so he took the gun from the guy’s hand. For a moment, he looked the crazy guy in the eyes before finally turning his attention to the strange-looking weapon. It kind of looked like a revolver, but it didn’t seem to have a cylinder. There didn’t seem to be any way to load bullets in that gun at all.

As if reading his mind, Matt said, “This amazing weapon doesn’t need any ammo. It works on magic instead. When you pull the trigger, a bullet-like projectile is created inside the gun and fired from the muzzle.”

“I see.”

“Isn’t that awesome?”

“I guess.”

“Go on, check its stats now.”

With a thought, Jack called up the revolver’s stats. He learned that it was a legendary weapon and that its current level was 78. From the description of the gun, Jack also learned that the weapon was soulbound and cursed. The latter had him worried. He stole a look at Matt. It seemed like the cursed revolver had been draining Matt of his sanity, turning him into a crazy person.

“When did you find the gun?” Jack asked.

Matt shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t remember. A few months ago. Why?”

“No reason.”

So the cursed gun had been draining Matt of his sanity for a few months. No wonder he had a few screws loose. Jack contemplated telling Matt it and suggesting to refrain from using the gun, but in the end, he decided not to. In the best-case scenario, his suggestion would fall on deaf ears. In the worst-case scenario, Matt would think that Jack simply tried to trick him into yielding his precious gun, and it would definitely result in Matt losing his temper again.

“Shoot me with it,” Matt suddenly said, bringing Jack back from his thoughts.

“What?”

“Point the gun at me and pull the trigger,” Matt said with a huge crazy grin on his face.

“What? Why?”

“Just do it. You’ll understand when you try to shoot me.”

“Are you serious? I’m not gonna shoot you.”

Matt’s face twisted in anger. “Shoot me! Just fucking do it!”

Geez, Jack thought. This guy’s completely off the rails.

He regretted bringing such a person to his home. Not that he’d had a choice in the matter.

He pointed the gun at Matt’s arm and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. Matt’s mood immediately changed again – his anger was gone, and the crazy smile reappeared on his face.

“See?” he said. “This gun is soulbound, so only I can use it. If you want to use it, you’ll have to kill me first. But if you do that, the gun’s stats will be canceled, and you’ll have to level up the gun from scratch.”

Not that I’d ever use such a weapon, Jack thought. I value my sanity.

“Now give the gun back to me,” Matt said.

Jack hesitated. That guy was crazy, which made him very dangerous. It was impossible to tell what was on his mind and what he could do next. Matt seemed to read his mind again, and his face twisted in anger.

“Gimme back my fucking gun,” he almost screamed.

Almost immediately after that, Jack felt something tug at his hand with such force that his hand almost broke. The revolver jumped from his grip and flew toward Matt. He snatched it out of the air and grinned at Jack.

“Remember when I told you that this gun is my only weapon?” Matt said. “I didn’t lie to you, but what I didn’t tell you was that I also know a few magic spells like the telekinesis one I just used on you.”

Without waiting for a reply, Matt turned and strode to the railing. He looked down and said, “Those creatures are still down there.”

Jack didn’t say anything. He didn’t feel like talking to a crazy person. Matt aimed his gun down over the railing and opened fire on the creatures at the base of the great tree.

“At least, I can practice shooting,” Matt said. “Too bad you don’t get XP for those creatures, though.”

Jack got worried. He walked over to the railing and looked down. Most of the blind mutants were looking up as Matt continued to fire at them, the crack of the gunshots reverberating through the night air.

“Stop,” Jack said.

“Why?” Matt asked as he fired another shot, the bullet slamming into a mutant, spinning the creature to the ground.

The other mutants got closer to the great tree, feeling the huge trunk with their clawed hands.

“You’re attracting their attention.”

“So? You said they couldn’t get up here, didn’t you?”

As Jack stared down, he saw several mutants dig their claws deep into the bark as they began to climb up the tree. Matt fired another shot at the mutants on the ground.

Jack finally lost his patience.

“Fucking stop firing at them, you idiot,” he snapped at Matt. “They’re climbing up the tree now, don’t you see?”

“Don’t get your panties in a bunch,” Matt said indifferently. “I got this.”

He fired at the mutants climbing up the tree and even managed to kill several of them, but all he’d accomplished was to attract even more mutants. A few more dozen creatures were climbing up the trunk now, and amazingly deftly at that. Unless Matt stopped firing, there was no way they would stop trying to get up to his treehouse. And Matt wasn’t willing to stop firing his gun.

Several mutants had already reached the bottom of the balcony. Pushing the claws on their hands and feet into the wood, they crawled across the bottom of the balcony like spiders. One of them reached the edge and reached up to take hold of the railing. When the mutant began to climb over it, Jack raced toward it and kicked the monster in the chest, sending it flying down to the ground.

Another mutant began to climb over the railing. Matt shot it in the face, and the monster dropped down. A couple more creatures climbed on the balcony from the other side. Drawing his sword, Jack lurched at them, killing both in mere seconds. He quickly looked around, but there were no more mutants on the balcony yet.

Matt continued to fire at the creatures down below.

“Stop doing that,” Jack yelled at him. “If you continue to fire at them, we’ll be outnumbered in no time. There’s no end to those creatures.”

Matt suddenly turned around and pointed his gun at him. “Don’t fucking tell me what I can and cannot do. All I’m trying to do is help you. Are you too dumb to understand that? I’m gonna kill them all. Either you shut up and deal with the ones that reach the balcony or I’ll kill you this instant. You understand me?”

From the crazy look on his face, it was clear that Matt could easily kill him without a second thought.

“Okay,” Jack said. “Fine.”

Matt watched him for a moment, then, seemingly satisfied, nodded. “We got this. Between you, me, and my lovely gun, we can deal with all of them. You can thank me later.”

Without waiting for a reply, he turned away from him and resumed firing at the mutants down below.

Jack closed his eyes for a second. He knew that there was no way to kill all the blind mutants. Everyone they killed seemed to spawn two more. He hated himself for what he was about to do, but seeing as Matt couldn’t be reasoned with, he had no other choice. He opened his eyes and looked around to make sure no more mutants showed up on the balcony yet and sheathed his sword.

He approached Matt from behind, the crack of gunfire muffling his footsteps. Jack bent over, grabbed Matt by the ankles, and lifted. Matt screamed when he realized what was happening. He tried to take hold of the railing, but before he could do so, Jack swung his legs over the edge of the balcony and let go of him. Matt continued to scream as he dropped down to the ground. A second later, there was a thud as his body collapsed on the forest floor.

Jack looked down. The mutants that had been climbing up the tree trunk stopped and lowered their heads toward where Matt had fallen. The guy was still alive, but he must have broken his spine in the fall. He tried to get up, but his legs were unresponsive. Continuing to scream, he used his elbows, trying to crawl away from the monsters. Only there was nowhere he could go – the swarm of blind mutants surrounded him from every direction. Those that clung to the tree trunk began to climb down, attracted by his high-pitched screams.

When the mutants attacked him with razor-sharp claws and needle-like teeth, Matt’s screams intensified. Jack walked away from the railing, not willing to see him being torn apart by multiple monsters. But he could still hear his screaming for a couple of minutes, which seemed like an eternity. When Matt finally died and it was quiet again, Jack walked to the railing and looked down. No more mutants tried to climb up the tree. What was left of Matt’s body lay on the ground.

Jack turned away, walked to one of the chairs, and slumped into it. He felt bad about what he’d just done. He’d already killed three people in this world. Sure, he hadn’t had another choice, but it still bothered him. He remembered his driver’s license photo. He’d lost his belongings such as his ID and cell phone a long time ago, but he still remembered what he’d looked like in the picture. The honest face on his ID photo belonged to a good person. There was no way a person with such a face could be bad. Though he couldn’t remember anything about himself, Jack was sure he hadn’t been a bad person in his past life. Sure, he hadn’t had many people on his phone contact list, but it didn’t mean anything by itself. He might have been introverted, that’s all. However, in this dog-eat-dog world, there were no laws and no rules. In order to survive in this place, he had to do bad things – there was simply no way around it. And whether he wanted it or not, it might gradually change him, turning him into a more cruel and cold version of his former self.

In the morning, Jack found what was left of Matt’s body. He was interested only in his cursed revolver. He picked the weapon up and brought up its stats. Now that Matt was dead, the revolver’s stats were back to level 1 and common rarity. Jack figured he could use the gun now that its former owner was dead. Only he wasn’t going to. He wasn’t willing to turn into a crazy person like Matt. He just didn’t want to leave such a dangerous weapon lying on the ground.

Jack returned to his treehouse and hid the cursed revolver in one of his chests. He locked the chest with a key and hid the latter in another room. He wasn’t going to use the cursed weapon anytime soon, that was for damn sure.